Stop squinting! Improve your vision with eye asanas

photo by: Hejaab

I know I’m probably not the only one that has suffered from a deteriorating vision. I attribute it mostly to how much time I’ve stared at the computer screen over my life. I’ve tried to develop a few habits and have even started practicing eye asanas to help improve my vision, or at least stop it from deteriorating.

Most of our deterioration of vision is caused by looking at things directly in front of us. When we’re staring at things right in front of our faces for prolonged periods of time, our eyes get strained, they get tired. When we’re working in the same narrow range of focus, the muscles surrounding our eyes have to work harder and they begin to deteriorate over time. The best way we can combat this is practicing depth asanas.

Exercise 1: Place your index finger about 12 inches away from your eyes, gently gaze at the tip of your finger for 5-10 seconds. Now gradually and slowly move your finger closer and closer to your eyes. Don’t poke your eye out! Practice this for 3-4 minutes, a few times a day. Afterwards, blink or squeeze your eyes shut to relax them.

Exercise 2: When you are outside, practice looking at something very close, then gradually move your focus further and further away. This works best for me when I’m walking down the sidewalk somewhere, or in an open area. Practice this for 30 seconds or so at a time whenever you’re outside.

Many of our eye-related problems come from a lack of tone and flexibility in the eye muscles. If we practice eye asanas, yoga for your eyes, we can reduce or eliminate these problems.

Exercise 3: Move your eyes as far upward as you can. Take one breath in and out slowly. Move your eyes as far downward as you can, count one breath. Repeat this 4 times.

Exercise 4: Move your eyes as far to the right as you can, count one breath. Move your eyes as far to the left as you can, count one breath. Repeat 4 times. Remember to close your eyes and rest after each set of 4 repetitions.

Exercise 5: Move your eyes as far up and to the right as you can, find a point in your vision to focus on, count one breath. Do the same thing in the far left bottom point in your field of vision. Repeat 4 times.

Now do the same thing in reverse, top left and bottom right, 4 times. Don’t forget to blink and relax your eyes if they become too strained.

Exercise 6: Now we’re going to practice eye-circling. This is easy, we’re going to start by moving our as far upward as we can, and then moving them counter-clockwise. Do this slowly and make a full circle of your vision. Repeat in the opposite direction.

Palming: This exercise is crucial to relaxing the eyes after we have completed our exercises. It has a very calming effect and relaxes the nervous system.

Sit up straight, back erect, focus on your breathing. Now take your hands and rub them vigorously together for 15 to 20 seconds. Put your palms over your eyes, facing you, fingers interlaced. Remember to breathe deeply. When we do the palming exercise we relax the eyes and send a current of electricity through them, stimulating the nervous and circulatory system, releasing tension and improving our eyes performance.

A few more tips:

• Eat more carrots.. and spinach. Carrots have been known to maintain healthy vision. While they won’t miraculous cure blindness, they will help you maintain healthy eyesight. Spinach is another good source for keeping your eyes healthy, the large amounts of vitamin a and beta-carotene help keep your eyes in shape.
• Move your computer screen right below eye level. This will cause your eyes to close slightly and minimize fluid evaporation while staying at the computer for long hours.
• Turn down the heat in your house. When it’s too hot in an improperly ventilated room, the air becomes dry, and so do our eyes. By turning down the heat, we can save some of the strain on our eyes.
• Blink. Take your eyes away from the computer for a few seconds and just take the time to just.. blink.

More resources on improving your vision:

• Improve your vision by understanding it better
• Do eye exercises really work? – This in-depth article will tell you all the myths and truths about eye exercises and vision therapy

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